


Find Your Way Back Down

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: College AU, Drinking, Drunk Cuddles, Fake Dating, M/M, Multi, Polyamorous Negotiations, The importance of communication, oblivious JJ
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-03 10:35:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 15,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13339443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: No one told Otabek school was this complicated.  It wasn't the work.  He could handle the work just fine.  It was his terminally clueless best friend, who had made it to his senior year of college without ever figuring out that a) he wasn't straight, b) his childhood best friend was completely in love with him and wanted to have his babies, c) some people flirted through teasing.That last one might sound silly compared to the first two, but that's how JJ found himself the object of Yuri Plisetsky's crush.  Which, normally, Otabek would offer sympathies and a smack upside the head, but Otabek had a huge crush on Yuri himself.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a [tumblr prompt:](http://otpprompts.tumblr.com/post/150730050072/person-a-b-and-c-are-in-the-same-class-while)  
> Person A, B and C are in the same class. While Person A has a crush on Person C, Person B has a crush on A. Person B and Person C are good friends. A confesses to C but gets rejected and B hears from C that A has a crush on C. A and B are depressed and get drunk and kinda hook up. Later in school A and B act all shy around the other person. Lots of fluff and shy moments.

It wasn’t the worst night of Otabek’s life. That was just plain too dramatic to be true. The night his grandfather died was probably worse, or the time he’d tried to walk home from school and got lost and wasn’t found until 3 am, that had been pretty bad, too. Or the night he thought he was dying because his flu was so awful. It was still a bad night, and the small mountain of empty beer bottles in front of him stood in tribute to that.

He wanted to blame JJ, but he really couldn’t. It wasn’t his friend’s fault that he had no idea why telling Otabek what had happened earlier at the party would hurt him so much.

Otabek had been busy for the first part of the party, getting the music set up. Once the playlist was going and he’d sorted out a speaker issue, he was free to hang out and have fun – which would also prevent his idiot friends from demanding he play “Free Bird” or “Wonderwall” or some other overplayed cliché song. It was a chance to get a drink, maybe dance a little with JJ and Isabella and Seung Gil, and this time, he was going to go ask Yuri Plisetsky to dance instead of just standing on the side and watching.

Yuri was the best dancer Otabek had ever seen. Even when he was just bouncing to the music with everyone else, there was a sense of power and grace and complete comfort and control over his body that captivated Otabek. When he performed, it was even more obvious just how talented he was, although Otabek was well aware of how hard Yuri worked to achieve the effortless beauty of his dancing. Otabek had never dared to tell anyone, even JJ, that he had a crush on the dancer. If it got back to Yuri… well. Rejection, Otabek could handle. He just wanted to have the opportunity to set himself up for it.

There was a technical problem with the music, causing Otabek and Seung Gil to have to go investigate. Otabek had to restart his computer to solve it. Once that was finished and he could pay attention to the crowd again, he couldn’t spot Yuri anywhere. Disappointing, but these things happened. He was looking for one of his friends to dance with when he felt his arm grabbed. JJ. “Dude. You will not believe what just happened!”

“Aliens abducted Isabella?” Otabek deadpanned.

JJ’s laughter rang loud. “Nope. Even less likely. You know that dancer kid, Yuri? Cute kid, foul mouth, really fun to wind up?”

“Yeah, I know him. What did you do to him this time?” One reason Otabek had been taking his time: JJ teased the shit out of Yuri for his long hair and slender build, and Otabek didn’t want to be judged by association.

“So, I was teasing him like usual, I said something about he’d look really cute with those little butterfly clips, you know, the ones that have become all the rage among the girls, with those decorating his braid.”

“And he got mad and told you to fuck off?” Otabek guessed. It’s what usually happened when JJ said something comparing Yuri to either a girl or Viktor Nikiforov.

“Nope! He told me to knock it off with the girl cracks, if I think he’s cute I should just do something about it already and dance with him.” JJ laughed harder. “He hit on me! Can you believe it? Sure, he’s cute and all, but… you okay, Beks?” JJ stopped laughing and looked at Otabek with concern.

Otabek carefully forced his face to its usual neutral expression. He needed to process the broken heart on his own before he could talk to anyone about it, even JJ. Especially JJ. “Yeah. I’m great. You turned him down, I take it. What happened then?”

JJ looked at him funny, but he continued the story. “He handled it about as well as any freshman handles rejection, I guess. Got kinda red and _then_ he told me to fuck off and leave him alone and stop teasing him if I was just doing it to mess with him instead of some kind of warped flirting.” JJ tilted his head. “Beks, do people actually do that? Tease their crushes to flirt with them?”

“Yeah. They do. Haven’t you ever heard of pulling pigtails?” JJ’s face said that, clearly, he had not. “Trust me. It’s a thing. Ask Isabella about it, she might have had to deal with it at some point. I know Sara and Mila have.”

“Wow." JJ shook his head and scuffed his feet. "I feel kinda bad about leading the kid on, in that case. I’ve been teasing him just to get the reaction, but he never seemed to seriously mind or try to avoid me, so I figured he knew it wasn’t malicious or anything and was having fun with it too.”

“You gonna leave him alone now?” Maybe, just maybe, if JJ would leave Yuri alone, things weren't completely ruined for Otabek yet. Yuri would deal, and Otabek was patient enough to wait for him to be back on his feet after this.

JJ nodded. “For a while anyway, at least. Give him some space, let him get over this. I didn’t mean to hurt him. Maybe later, I can try to be friends with him in a more normal way, but right now that would probably just make things worse.”

“Yeah, you should probably do that.” Otabek noticed Isabella heading their way. “Go dance with Isabella. Have some fun tonight, forget about Yuri.”

JJ glanced over at Isabella, and then back to Otabek. “Beks… seriously, what’s wrong? Something is.”

Otabek shook his head, but he didn’t have time to say anything before Isabella got there and draped herself over JJ's shoulder. “Is there a reason you two are over here looking like someone kicked your puppy instead of out having a good time?”

“Something’s bugging…”

Otabek cut JJ off, shoving him gently toward the dance floor. “This guy’s convinced I’m moping. I’m fine. Take him and go dance before I do get upset about something.”

Isabella started to protest, but something changed her mind. She gave Otabek a quick hug and whispered, “I’m here if you need anything.” After pulling back, she led JJ out to the dance floor, leaving Otabek to relax, mope… and go find the booze.


	2. Chapter 2

Otabek reached for another bottle. His hand bumped into someone else’s. “Fuck off, that’s mine,” the hand’s owner snapped. Otabek conceded the point, drawing back and letting Yuri grab the bottle. From the looks of Yuri, it was a long way from his first. Yuri paused, bottle halfway to his lips, and glared. “What are you staring at, asshole?”

“Sorry. Just a little… I’m sorry. I should go see if I can find a bottle that’s not yours.” Otabek started to back away, but Yuri stopped him with a hand to the arm.

“Here. We can share this one. Why’re you hitting the booze so hard?”

Otabek just started laughing from the irony. Of course this would be the way he got to talk to Yuri Plisetsky. Of course it would. When he got it together enough to, he took a swig of the beer and handed it back to Yuri. “Been crushing on a guy all year. Was gonna do something about it tonight… and then I found out he likes someone else.”

“Ugh.” Yuri took a sip of the beer and handed it back. “Think that might actually be worse than my night. You need this more than I do, buddy. You probably saw what sent me here. Everyone did.”

“I didn’t, actually, I was trying to fix the music, but I heard about it later. I’m sorry. JJ can be an ass, but he’s not mean-spirited.” Mentally, Otabek was cringing. Sure, it was true, but JJ really didn't need the defense and Yuri probably didn't want to hear it anyway.

“Not helping,” Yuri grumbled. “It’s be easier if I could hate him like I used to before Viktor suggested he might be pulling my pigtails. Fucking Viktor anyway.”

“Here. Have some more.” Otabek passed the beer back to Yuri. “Broken hearts fucking suck. At least mine wasn’t public. No one but me knows. I didn’t even tell my best friends I loved this guy, only my little sister, and she’s half a world away and hasn’t heard yet.”

“Loved him? Or just a crush? Bit of a difference, you know. At least I wasn’t dumb enough to go falling in love with JJ, although I was definitely headed that way.” Yuri sighed and took another swig of the beer before handing it back.

Otabek finished it off. Oops. Hadn’t meant to do that, but… “Dammit, why is this how I realize it was more than just a crush?”

“Your night officially sucks worse than mine. Come on, let’s go see if we can find more.” Yuri grabbed Otabek’s hand and hauled him to his feet in the search for beer. He let out a cry of triumph when he found the six-pack. “Jackpot! Let’s go.”

“Go where?” Not that Otabek cared. He'd follow wherever Yuri led.

“Go somewhere JJ isn’t staring at us like there’s some great mystery in why I’m getting fucking smashed. Or staring at us at all. Why is JJ staring at us?” Yuri held up a middle finger in JJ and Isabella’s direction.

Otabek didn’t bother to answer. He just let Yuri drag him along for the ride. Somehow, Yuri was still sober enough to figure out how to get the two of them up to the attic, where they wouldn’t be disturbed. He made a sort of couch out of boxes and stretched out on it. “Big enough for two, if you wanna join me here instead of making your own.”

Otabek was just drunk enough to ignore the part of his brain shouting what a bad idea this was. He climbed onto the box couch beside Yuri. Maybe he didn’t have to be in quite as tight as he was, but Yuri certainly wasn’t objecting at all. Yuri grabbed a beer from the six-pack and handed it to Otabek, and then snagged one for himself. Once he had his bottle open, he cuddled into Otabek. “If you mind, feel free to shove me off.”

“Nah. I don’t mind. You’re totally messing with my head, but right now, I don’t care. I’ll take what I can get, you know? Better than going home and crying myself to sleep.” Otabek’s free arm came up around Yuri’s shoulders and the two drank in silence for a bit. Otabek shoved back the little niggle of guilt trying to penetrate the alcohol haze and tell him he was taking advantage of Yuri’s compromised emotional state, and the small but persistent pang of his common sense trying to tell him that if he stayed here and let himself have this, it was just gonna hurt that much more when Yuri told him that it didn’t mean anything and they should leave it alone.

Halfway through his second beer from the six-pack, Yuri let the bottle slip out of his hand. Luckily, it didn’t break, but it did spill. Yuri didn’t show any sign that he noticed as he stared at Otabek. “Me?”

“Huh?”

“That dude you’re in love with. The one you found out was crushing on someone else. Tonight. Me?”

“Uh…” Lie or tell the truth? Otabek couldn’t see anything good coming out of either of them. 

Yuri shook his head. “You’re friends with JJ. It wasn’t me JJ was staring at trying to figure out why I was getting smashed, he was staring at you. I’m messing with your head by drinking and cuddling with you, because you know it doesn’t mean what you want it to to me. _Fuck_ , dude, I’m sorry, why the fuck didn’t you say anything? I’d kill JJ if he did this to me.”

Otabek finished off what was left of the beer in his hand before he answered. “Like I said. Better than going home and crying myself to sleep. It’s not like you’re leading me on or anything, I know it’s JJ you want to be cuddling, I’m just here because JJ said no. You’re not doing this to me, I’m doing it to myself.”

“You sure? I mean, we’re both pretty drunk right now, I’m not gonna try to sleep with you, but it feels wrong to ask the guy whose heart I broke be the one to comfort me for my broken heart.”

Otabek started laughing again. “Right, because that’s worse than me taking advantage of you getting your heart broken to at least get a taste of what I want. Things are gonna suck in the morning, but right now, I got this.”


	3. Chapter 3

The morning was awkward, but much less than it could have been. Yuri was gone by the time Otabek woke up. He'd left a note, at least.

_Fuck. Forgot to get your name, even. Damn, I suck._  
_Should probably scribble that out and start over but fuck it. You deserve to know what a mess I am, I guess._  
_Sorry I can’t stay and talk. My grandpa’s gonna be worried as it is, and I got no idea how much longer you’re going to sleep. You’re a good guy, and I’m sorry about last night. I have this feeling that if I asked you’d totally let me take advantage of you and use you as a rebound guy, but I can’t do that to you. You deserve better. Okay? If you want, we can try to be friends, but if that’s too weird for you, don’t worry about it._  
_I’m assuming you already know this, but my name’s Yuri Plisetsky. Even if you don’t want to be friends, text me and let me know you woke up okay? Please?_  
_Yuri_

Otabek had to smile. He really would let Yuri use him as a rebound guy. The fact that Yuri refused… just made it that much harder to accept that he’d missed his chance. He sent Yuri a quick text letting him know he was awake and signed it with his name, followed by “Or you can call me Attic Cuddles Guy.” Then he went downstairs to retrieve his computer and equipment. His parents weren’t the least bit surprised when he came in just before noon; they just made him sit down and eat lunch with them “like a civilized human being.”

 

School on Monday was a little weird. Otabek only had one morning class, but he’d usually go early to study or get assignments done. He was working on an English paper when he felt someone drop down beside him. “I’m sorry about Yuri. If I’d known, I’d have said something to either him or JJ before shit went down.”

“Thanks, Isabella.” Otabek set his laptop aside. “It may have worked in my favor after all, really. Did you clue JJ in on why I was acting weird?”

“No. He’s still… I love him, but he is really oblivious sometimes, you know?” Case in point: Isabella had done everything short of throwing JJ against a wall and kissing him to make it obvious that she was in love with him, including telling him that, and he was convinced that she meant she loved him as a friend and a sister. Isabella patted his shoulder. “I’m scared that if I told him what was going on, he’d start trying to set up meet-cutes for you and Yuri, and I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“No, you’re probably right. Ugh, JJ.” Otabek rolled his eyes. “Thought any more about my idea?”

“Beks, _no_ , I am not proposing to him. Even if it worked, I’m not sure his ego could handle being the one proposed to!” Isabella added through giggles.

Otabek laughed along with her. “At which point you tell him you were joking about the actual proposal, you just wanted to get it through his head that you want to be his girlfriend.”

Isabella shook her head with a smile. “So what did you mean by this maybe working out for you after all? Please tell me you’re not gonna be a rebound, Beks, you know how that's gonna end up!”

“I’m not gonna be a rebound. He says that if I want to try to be friends, he’s cool with that. So once I find the courage to do it, I’m going to send him a text and ask him if he wants to hang out sometime. As friends.”

Isabella leaned over and hugged Otabek. It wasn’t until a moment later, when she tossed the phone back in his lap, that he realized what had just happened. He groaned. “What time and where?”

“All I did was text him when you’re going to lunch and when you’re done with class today. He’ll tell you when and where!” Isabella winked at him and sat back up. “You need more friends anyway, Beks.”

“Now you sound like JJ. I’m fine. You and JJ and Seung Gil are all I need.” Otabek reached for his laptop. “I have homework.”

“You have a response from Yuri,” Isabella teased as Otabek’s phone pinged. “Check it.”

Otabek rolled his eyes and picked up the phone as it pinged again. It was probably JJ or Seung Gil… no, he was wrong, it was in fact Yuri. 

**_Hey. I can meet you for lunch. 12:30 at the sandwich shop?_ **  
**_Sorry in advance. I’m gonna be crap company. If you don’t show, no big deal._ **

“Huh.” Isabella raised her lovely eyebrows and Otabek sighed as he texted back confirmation. “We’re meeting for lunch. No, I’m not telling you when or where, because I know you and JJ would just happen to pick the same place.”

Isabella giggled and swatted at Otabek’s arm. “Fine, be that way. For the record, my plan is to keep JJ away from him for a while, but if you won’t help…” She shrugged. “I’d better get to class. Bye, Beks!”

Otabek tried to go back to his English essay, but now he was wound up and couldn’t concentrate. He picked up his headphones and lost himself in music. It helped the words flow while he waited for classes to start. He could always go back and edit later, or not. His professor hadn’t minded that his last paper had been heavily influenced by Aerosmith, and he highly doubted she’d even know that this one was being influenced by Rossini.

Okay, maybe he shouldn’t be talking about how haircuts would solve all of the problems in the world, and a good barber was the most useful citizen of any Spanish town. It really wasn’t relevant to analyzing setting descriptions in American western literature. He marked that paragraph for deletion later but decided to keep it for now to show Seung Gil. He found the oddest things funny.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Otabek and Yuri meet for lunch.
> 
> Content warning: brief mentions of past domestic abuse, not directed at Yuri or Otabek.

Naturally, class ran late, and Otabek got to the sandwich shop at 12:32. He hated being late for anything, but with Yuri Plisetsky involved, this felt like foreshadowing a disaster. When he got there, Yuri was waiting at the end of the line. He stepped up behind him.

“Go ahead of me, I’m waiting for someone,” Yuri said without looking up from his phone.

Otabek fought back the smile. “I think that’s me. Hi, Yuri. Good to see you again.”

“Oh! Sorry. Um.” Yuri looked up and then back at his phone, a light flush stealing across his face. “I was pretty sure you weren’t gonna show, really. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Who the hell have you been friends with that you’re so convinced people are gonna stand you up? Yeah, I was late, but not that late.” Otabek cut himself off at that. A couple minutes or not, being late was still rude. “Sorry about that, by the way, class ran long.”

“Well it’s not…” Yuri’s flush deepened. “It wasn’t because you were a couple minutes late. That happens. I just didn’t think you’d show after I said I wasn’t gonna be good company.”

“And yet you showed, and you were still waiting for me, so clearly you wanted me to…” Otabek shook his head. This was not making any sense to him.

“I did. It’s just… I’ll tell you after we’ve ordered, okay? It’s our turn.” Yuri stepped up to the counter and rattled off a complicated sandwich order. Otabek quickly added his own, ignoring the surprise on Yuri’s face when he paid for both orders.

Once they’d gotten drinks and found a table, Yuri found his voice again. “You didn’t have to do that. I can buy my own lunch.”

“I know. Next time you can pay if it means that much to you." Yuri's eyes flashed in surprise at the 'next time', to Otabek's surprise. "What’s going on?”

“Right. Okay, it’s… you know I’m Russian, right?”

“Yeah. Not really related to Viktor Nikiforov, but close enough?” Yuri hated comparisons to Viktor, but there wasn't any way around the fact that Yuri and one of the most well-known instructors at their school were all but family. No sense in trying to avoid the topic.

“His adopted dad and my grandpa were really close back home, before Yakov moved out here. My grandpa and I moved out here so I could go to school, and Grandpa had a stroke last night. He’s in the hospital but he is very adamant that if he finds out I’m skipping classes to be with him, he will get out of that hospital bed and kick my ass.” Yuri snorted with a grim smile. “He’d do it, too.”

“My grandmother would do the same thing if it were her,” Otabek said with a smile. Never mind that his grandmother was still in Kazakhstan, she'd be on a plane to kick Otabek's ass if need be. Yuri's grandfather sounded like someone worth knowing. “Is he going to be okay?”

“Depends how you define okay. They’re pretty sure this one won’t kill him, but if he has another stroke…” Yuri shrugged and stared at his sandwich. “Grandpa says he’s going to live long enough to see me dance on stage in New York, and I believe he means to, but somehow I don’t think strokes care what he believes.”

“No, probably not, but I wouldn’t count him out, either.” Otabek popped a couple chips in his mouth. “He supports your dancing, I take it?”

“Yeah. He’s big on finding and following your passion. He never had the opportunity to make anything of himself as a musician, because he kept taking the safe choice, and he didn’t want to see Mama or me settle when he could see that we both had talent. Mama became an actress, she’s kinda famous in Russia, and she put me in all kinds of lessons from the time I could walk. Skating, dancing, swimming, music… I wanted to be a skater, but when I was about ten, Mama decided I shouldn’t be trusted with sharp objects and made me quit.” Yuri's eyes twinkled with mischief.

“That sucks. I wanted to be a skater, too, but Kazakhstan didn’t have the resources I needed to be good enough to make it worthwhile and Mom and Dad wouldn’t let me go to Russia or Canada or America by myself. What was the problem with you having sharp objects?”

Yuri smirked. “I threatened to kick this guy she was dating with my knife shoes when he said something mean to her. Six months later I got to visit the hospital after he beat the shit out of her, and she admitted I’d been right about him and she should have let me kick him, but by then… I dunno, I probably could have gone back, but there was so much bitterness and I’d started focusing so much on my ballet that I’d dropped a couple other things on my own.”

“That sucks. At least you found your ballet.” Losing a dream was much easier with a backup plan, in Otabek's experience.

“Yeah… and Russia’s not like here, the ballet is a huge national pride thing so a boy who’s got the potential to become a star is not gonna have to deal with shitheads calling him a girl. Not like it is here. Not like JJ. Although maybe if I’d had to deal with that in Russia, I wouldn’t have misunderstood JJ.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Otabek ate some more chips.

Yuri made a face and took a huge bite of sandwich. Once it was swallowed, he apologized. “Probably shouldn’t bring up JJ. Sorry. What are you studying here?”

“Music. I can play guitar and drums and a few other instruments, but mostly what I do is mixing. Thanks to JJ, I get invited to put together playlists for a lot of parties around here, and a lot of them will even pay me for it.”

“What, like a DJ?” Yuri asked, eyes sparkling.

“Exactly like a DJ. It’s a fun hobby, but I don’t know if I can make a career out of it.”

“My grandpa would tell you to at least give it a try.”

So would Yuri, it seemed. “And I will. DJ, play shows, session work, songwriting… Leo de la Iglesia wants me to join his band, and I wouldn’t mind doing that if he doesn’t mind me having side projects. I don’t care if I get famous, I just want to make a living with my music. I’m just worried about not having a safety net if I can’t do it. I’ve got the talent, and I know it. What I don’t have is the connections or the personality to make those easily.”

“Leo and JJ sound like a good start.”

“Yeah, I guess. Although JJ’s planning on going pro as a hockey player. Not exactly useful for helping me get music gigs.”

Yuri started laughing at that. “Pro hockey, huh? Mila will get a kick out of that.”

“Who’s Mila?”

“Yakov’s great-niece or something like that. Surprised you don’t know her, she goes to our school too, allegedly studying writing but it seems like she spends most of her time studying hockey players' asses. I keep telling her she’d be better off with figure skaters if it’s asses she likes, but nooo, she likes hockey douchebags.”

“Oh! I think Isabella’s mentioned her… is Mila friends with Sara Crispino?” If Mila was who he was thinking of, he may need to go make a new friend.

“Yeah, that’s her. Who’s Isabella?”

“JJ’s best friend who’s been hopelessly in love with him since they were like ten but he thinks she sees him as a brother. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but JJ is a clueless idiot sometimes.”

Yuri smirked. “You don’t say.”

“Right, sorry, not talking… sorry.” Otabek shoved his sandwich as far in his mouth as he could get it and still manage to take the bite.

“It’s okay. If you and he are that good friends, probably be more awkward to avoid talking about him than to talk about him if he comes up.” Yuri sighed and opened the bag of apple slices. “Do you miss Kazakhstan?”

Otabek smiled softly, thinking about home. “All the time. Almaty is special and I hope, someday, to go back. Do you miss Russia?”

“Not really. My grandpa’s here with me and that’s all I really care about.”

“What about your mom?”

Yuri shrugged. “She never really had time for me, that’s one reason I got put in all those lessons, and her new husband hates me. Could be a lot worse, but I’m fine with seeing her on Skype and on the occasional holiday.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Meh, it’s always been like this, Grandpa and me on our own. Yakov and Lilia and Viktor and Mila help, so that neither of us is really lonely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so long. Computer issues meant I lost most of the chapter the first time I tried to write it, and RL stuff/mental health issues have been kicking my ass this week so rewriting it just seemed hard and pointless. I'm trying to kick back, I promise!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JJ gets a clue. Unfortunately, it's the wrong clue.
> 
> JJ's clue leads Isabella to come up with a bad scheme.

They spent the rest of lunch talking about music and dance, and when Yuri had to leave to get to class, Otabek went back to his study hole. Headphones made working with music easier here than at home, and he didn’t have enough time to go to the makeshift studio he and some of the others had set up in a warehouse. He set an alarm to remind him when he had ten minutes to get to class, another for eight minutes, and then got to work.

He was interrupted half an hour later by JJ. Sighing, he shut down his music. “What’s up?”

“I asked Izzy about the pulling pigtails thing and now I feel really bad about that dancer kid. What if he’s not the only one? I tease a lot of people who tease back. Have I been flirting with a lot of people without meaning to?”

The words were out before Otabek could get his brain in gear. “Did you ask Isabella about that one?”

“Yeah, but she didn’t answer. She just started giggling a lot." Otabek couldn't quite keep himself from smirking a little at that. One day, with any luck, JJ would be in on the joke, but for now, he was just going to sit back and enjoy it. "Beks, come on, tell me. Just how big a jerk am I here?”

“You’re not really a jerk. You’re oblivious, yes, but you’re not a jerk for not realizing that your teasing could be misconstrued. You’re good about stopping if someone seems to be upset by your teasing, so maybe just check in with them after a couple times and ask? No offense, dude, but you wouldn’t recognize signs of flirting short of being thrown against a wall and kissed - and I'm not sure about that one, either.”

JJ's eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms. “Why do you say that? You don’t think I can recognize flirting?”

“No. You can’t.”

“Sure I can!”

Otabek shook his head. Was there a worse combination than oblivious and stubborn? “You really can’t. Just accept that. You know you’re hot, you’re a hockey star, you’re smart, you’re creative… people flirt with you every day and you never acknowledge it. At first, I thought it was because of your religion, but then I realized it was because you are completely clueless about it all.”

“People don’t flirt with me every day…”

“Yes, they do.”

JJ got quiet and thoughtful for a bit. “…Beks?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you been flirting with me and I’ve failed to notice? Is that why you got so drunk Saturday night?”

Otabek stared at JJ, jaw dropped. It wasn’t hard to see how JJ had jumped to that conclusion, but… he shook his head. “No. I’d have told you straight to your face in no uncertain terms instead of being vague and expecting you to pick up on flirting.”

“So why did you drink so much? I’ve never seen you drunk before. You keep saying you have to keep an eye on your laptop in case of problems.”

Otabek sighed, but was spared answering when the alarm on his computer went off. “I have to get to class, JJ. It’s not you. You have nothing to feel guilty about me for. You still can’t recognize flirting when it slaps you in the face with a brick.”

 

The next morning, Isabella moved Otabek’s computer and plopped into his lap. “JJ is convinced you’re in love with him. TELL ME YOUR WAYS, MASTER.”

“Get drunk at a party next time someone else hits on him and he tells you all about it." Otabek rolled his eyes at Isabella's skeptical look and shrugged. "That and calling him out on being oblivious to flirting are all I did.”

Isabella clearly didn't believe him, but she let it drop. “How’d lunch with Yuri go?”

“Good… a little weird, but I think being friends is gonna work.”

Isabella's eyes twinkled. “And if he changes his mind and decides you’re a cool guy and he likes you better than jerks who tease him mercilessly, you’ll be ready to pounce?”

“You make me sound like manipulative trash, putting it that way,” Otabek protested. It was true, if Yuri changed his mind Otabek wasn’t exactly planning on moving on in any hurry, but it wasn’t like he was making friends with Yuri hoping for it.

Isabella giggled. “So I was talking to Mila earlier. She said I should date you.”

“What.”

“Not like seriously! Just go hang out and do stuff and cuddle a bit, like this.”

Otabek’s flat expression didn’t change a bit. “Mila’s been reading too much fanfic. Or not enough. Fake dating usually ends up with the fake daters falling in love for real, not actually getting the attention of the guy they’re trying to get in the first place.”

“Right, because falling in love with you would be such a hardship.” Isabella stuck her tongue out at Otabek. “Mila thinks this could help you with Yuri, too, show him what real boyfriend material looks like.”

“I thought you just said it wouldn’t be real.”

“The point is to make others think it’s real.”

“So I’m supposed to get Yuri to fall in love with me by making him think I got over him in two days and have a girlfriend now?” There were so many things wrong with that Otabek didn't even know where to start.

“Huh?”

“He knows I like him. He knows I was going to do something about it and just missed my chance. Since he’s willing to be my friend anyway, I’m hoping he knows that I can’t just shut it off but I’m willing to shove it aside and be friends.”

“Okay, so we tell Yuri what we’re doing,” Isabella said after a moment's pause.

“We’re still contending with JJ’s obliviousness – and he really is a good guy. He’s never shown any signs of being the jealous type. What happens if he realizes his feelings for you – and then decides that really, he shouldn’t do anything about them because you’re happy with a guy who’ll treat you well?”

Isabella groaned. “We’ll figure it out when we get there, then. Please, Beks? Think about it? I’ll talk to Mila some more and figure out answers…”

Otabek sighed. Maybe Yuri would be able to explain to Mila why this was such a horrible idea. “Maybe the four of us should just meet up for dinner? If Yuri’s willing to come, I don’t know if he would be or not, but I can ask.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner with Mila. Bad Ideas Continue.

At lunchtime, Otabek planned to skip eating to go to the studio and get some practice in. When he got to the studio, though, Yuri was there with a brown paper bag that he thrust at Otabek. “What the fuck does Mila want me to meet you and her and JJ’s girlfriend for dinner for?”

“Isabella isn’t JJ’s girlfriend. You’re going to die of shock to hear this, but he is completely oblivious to her feelings for him.” Otabek looked inside the paper bag and his mouth started watering. “You brought me pirozhki?”

Yuri's cheeks took on a slight pink tinge, but he stayed very tense. “Yeah. Special family recipe my grandpa developed.”

Otabek reached into the bag and picked one up. He bit into it and chewed slowly. “I don’t think I’ve ever had rice in a pirozhki. It’s good.”

“Yeah? You like it?” Yuri relaxed and smiled. “It’s based on this Japanese dish Viktor fell in love with when he went chasing a dream. Katsudon. I, uh… normally it would have pork, not chicken, but when I was talking to Grandpa to make sure I remembered the recipe right he said a lot of people in Kazakhstan are Muslim and wouldn’t want to eat pork, and since I didn’t know, I figured I’d play it safe.”

Otabek hurriedly swallowed the pirozhki in his mouth. “That’s appreciated, a lot. I’m kind of… I take my faith a lot more seriously around Grandma, you know? Out here, especially in America, I pretty much keep it to myself and don’t really follow the laws all that strictly. You might have noticed I got drunk – we’re not supposed to do that, either.”

Yuri snorted. “So you’d prefer chicken or whatever, but if I’d made it with pork you wouldn’t be offended?”

“Exactly." Otabek finished the pirozhki in his hand and pulled out another one. "Thank you, both for the pirozhki and the thought.”

“No problem. So what’s this thing Mila wants me to come to?”

Otabek rolled his eyes. “Mila’s got this harebrained idea for how Isabella can either get through to JJ or get over him, but when Isabella talked to me this morning I told her no. I know Isabella well enough to know she’s not going to give up that easily. I don’t know Mila personally, but from what I’ve heard from Isabella, she’s not going to let little things like it being a bad fucking idea stop her from encouraging it. I’m hoping you can help me talk some sense into the two of them, but if you can’t come because you need to be with your grandpa, I understand.”

“I’ll be there." Yuri smirked and grabbed himself a pirozhki. "I gotta meet the person who’s worse off than I am when it comes to JJ.”

 

Things got awkward fast when Mila hopped up on Otabek piggyback style. “Hiya! Nice to finally meet the infamous Beks. Can I call you that, or would you prefer Otabek?”

“I’d prefer Otabek. For now. Maybe later you can switch.”

“Okay!” Mila hopped down. “So I hear Yurio made you katsudon pirozhki?”

“Yes? I bought him lunch yesterday and he wanted to pay me back for it, I think." Although he'd been expecting Yuri to spring for sandwiches, not to take the time to make food from scratch.

“Huh. Something to consider with the plan, then.”

Before Otabek could ask what the big deal was, Yuri interrupted, very loudly. “Oy! Hag! Don’t call me that stupid name.”

Mila turned around and picked Yurio up, lifting him over her head easily. “Why not? It suits you!”

“It’s not my name. Put me down.”

Mila lowered him easily. “If your new boyfriend weren’t here, I’d be making you do a twist dismount. Consider yourself lucky.”

Yuri went red and his eyes sparked with murder. “He’s not my boyfriend. Don’t be such a witch.”

“Sure, Yurio. Whatever you say.” Mila ignored Yuri’s rage to focus on Isabella, who had just walked up and was now hanging back, one wary eye on Yuri.

“She reminds me a lot of my little sister,” Otabek said quietly to Yuri. “Except Dariya couldn’t lift me over her head like that.”

“Don’t give Mila ideas. She probably could.” Yuri took a couple deep breaths. “Sorry. Mila’s an idiot. I didn’t tell her anything about you.”

“Isabella did. It’s kind of relevant to the shenanigans they’re cooking up.”

 

Once they were seated and had placed their order, Yuri glared at Mila. “What are these shenanigans and why am I here?”

“Okay, a little background. You know JJ, right?”

“Oh, for…”

Yuri looked like he was about to explode, so Otabek reached out and put a hand on his arm. “Mila thinks Isabella and I should fake-date to make JJ jealous and come claim Isabella, and I said no, partly because of you. They invited you here because they know there’s a better chance of talking me into it if they can get you on board.”

The awkward silence lasted until drinks showed up. That seemed to break the spell, and Yuri glared at Mila. “Are you seriously that stupid? Do you want Isabella to fall in love with Otabek and forget JJ?”

“If this doesn’t get JJ’s attention and she does fall in love with Otabek, at least she’s found happiness and moved on. What, are you worried that it’ll happen and you’ll lose Otabek to her?”

Yuri sputtered, and Otabek cleared his throat. “The most likely thing to happen is that JJ’s happy to see his two best friends together, not realizing we’re not actually together, and even if he does realize he wants Isabella he’ll never say anything because he wouldn’t want to mess up a good thing for her. What do we do then?”

Mila shrugged, hands up. “We roll our eyes and call him a moron and stage a breakup so he can swoop in and comfort Isabella. No problem.”

Otabek shook his head in disbelief. “No. There is so much that could go wrong with this. Isabella, I’m happy to try to help you get through to JJ, but this… this isn’t the way.”

Isabella had the pout and the puppy eyes all ready to go, but Mila shook her head quickly at her. “Yuri? Will you do it?”

“I’m even worse! I just hit on JJ and now I’m dating his best friend? He’d probably think I’m doing it to try to get close to him!” Yuri crossed his arms and slouched in his chair. “Otabek’s been so good about putting up with my shit, I’m not gonna make him watch me pretend to date his friend.”

“Yuri, if you want to date someone who’s not me, that’s your call. It won’t stop me from being your friend.”

Yuri's gaze dropped to the table and he fiddled with a fork. “If I actually want to date someone, I’ll hold you to that, but doing some cheesy fanfic trope to help someone else get with the guy who just broke my heart? No.”

“Wait, what?” Mila looked between Yuri and Isabella. “What the hell happened?”

“JJ was doing his thing of teasing the pretty boy and Yuri thought he was pulling his pigtails. JJ was completely oblivious and shut him down when Yuri finally told him to make a move,” Isabella said. “Now he feels really bad about it, but that doesn’t really do much to help anything, does it.”

Mila's eyes opened wide, and she put a hand over her mouth. “Izzy? Is there a possibility that JJ is gay? He likes teasing the pretty boys… how many other people’s pigtails has he pulled?”

Isabella shook her head. “He’s not gay. He likes girls. He could be bi and not realize it, I guess…”

“Cool!" Mila recovered her aplomb quickly and grinned. "So how about both of you boys pretend to date Izzy, and each other, and whoever falls in love wins?”

Isabella opened her mouth, but shut it and a thoughtful look crossed her face. “You know… yeah, Beks, I know, you’re already halfway there with Yuri, but since I’m more interested in JJ anyway, it’s not a problem, there. For all we know, JJ may actually like Yuri back, and just not quite realize it, because he doesn’t think of himself as into boys. He sure seemed devastated by the conclusion that you’re in love with him.”

Mila cleared her throat. “Again I say: WHAT?”

“I’m not. I just called him on the pigtails thing, and I got trashed because of realizing Yuri liked JJ and wouldn’t respond well to me making a move, and he’s convinced I’ve been pining for him.” Otabek looked over to Yuri. “I’d be willing to do it if you are, and if you and Isabella fall for each other or JJ realizes he does like you after all, I’ll wish you well and do what I can to help you be happy.”

Yuri stared hard at Otabek, and then nodded. “Okay. I still think this is a shitty idea, really, but I’ll do it. Should at least be good for a laugh when it all goes to hell and Mila has to deal with us being heartbroken and furious.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fake Dating Begins and almost immediately begins to go awry.

Otabek spent most of the next day dodging JJ and praying for some sort of hint to filter through JJ’s stubborn obliviousness. Unfortunately, his prayers were in vain, and Thursday morning after practice time, Isabella decided to put the plan in motion. “Beks, wait up a minute.”

Otabek stopped and pretended he didn’t know exactly what Isabella was about to say or why she was doing it before JJ had finished cleaning his trumpet and putting it away. “What’s up, Isabella?”

“The new James Bond movie is opening tomorrow, and I was wondering if you’d like to go with me?”

Wow. Isabella wasn’t playing around – JJ was a huge James Bond fan. Thankfully, Otabek had a counterproposal that would let him at least try not to deliberately hurt JJ. “I have to check with Yuri, he’d said something about me coming to the dress rehearsal he’s doing tomorrow night, but if that’s not going to happen I’d love to.”

“Great! If you do end up going to the dress rehearsal, think Yuri can get me in too?”

Otabek shrugged. “I can ask. If not, rain check, we can go to Bond on Sunday?”

“Works for me!” Isabella hugged him and flounced off with a huge smile, leaving Otabek to go back to checking his drum set to make sure everything was clean and the drumheads were at the right tension.

JJ came over not long after, a troubled look in his eyes. “What was that all about?”

Otabek looked up from wiping down a cymbal. “That was Isabella asking me out and me wanting to say yes but possibly having pre-existing plans that conflicted. What did it look like?”

JJ's eyebrows shot up, and the troubled look only grew. “That. I’m just surprised. How long have the two of you been dating?”

“If it happens, tomorrow’s our first date.”

“So what’s happening with Yuri Plisetsky? Why would you pick him over a date with Izzy?”

Because Yuri’s the one I really want to date, and why am I not just telling you that this is the lengths Isabella is willing to go to get it through your thick stubborn oblivious skull that she loves you, is what Otabek wanted to say, but he didn’t. “Because he’s going to the trouble of asking his instructors to let me come when they wouldn’t normally let anyone but family or very close friends in, and I’m not going to tell him ‘never mind’ now. Especially not for Izzy, because we’ve been friends so long she knows I’m not saying no to the date, just to the specific plan.”

JJ’s face went sharp. “Otabek, you’re a good guy, I know that. If I find out you’re jerking around that kid to mess with Izzy, or jerking Izzy around to get Yuri’s attention, or using both of them to get over me…”

Otabek threw his tools into the kit. He could straighten it out later. “For the love of god, JJ, I am not and have not ever been in love with you. I like people who can take a goddamn hint when it’s wrapped around a brick and thrown at their head. If I were jerking one around to try something with the other, I’d have given Isabella some lame excuse instead of the truth.” He snatched up his bag and stormed from the studio.

 

He didn’t know where else to go – it was still too early to go to class, but he couldn’t stay in the studio, and he didn’t have enough time to really be worth it to try to get anything done. He headed for the building his next class was in and sat on one of the hall benches to text Isabella.

_Bond? Seriously? Straight off like that?_

**_The quicker he catches on the quicker we can resolve this._ **   
**_Besides, I needed something to get him in the jealous mindset, and you’re right, just you wouldn’t be enough._ **

_Well whatever you meant to do, you’ve got him pissed at me._   
_You knew about Yuri’s thing tomorrow night._   
_Now he thinks I’m messing with one or both of you._

**_Both of us? How? Why?_ **

_To get over him._

**_Heh. Well. It’s gonna be uncomfortable at first, we knew that._ **

_JJ is gonna be mad at all of us._

**_We’re not jerking anyone around. We all know what we’re doing and what we want._ **

_We’re jerking him around._

**_And I have fifteen years of trying any other way I can think of to show him that I tried not to._ **   
**_Yuri doesn’t owe JJ anything and can treat this as revenge._ **

_What about me, though?_

**_He’ll know that Mila and I talked you into it._ **   
**_Not to mention wanting to get with Yuri._ **

_This is going to go so wrong somehow. I just wish I knew how._

**_Come on, it’s not that bad! Just play along and have fun._ **

 

After class, Otabek went to the coffee shop he and Yuri were supposed to meet up at. Just outside, he found himself being stared down by Viktor Nikiforov. “Otabek Altin?”

“Yes?” Otabek glanced through the window, trying to spot Yuri, but he didn’t see him. “What can I do for you, Mr. Nikiforov?”

Viktor tilted his head, studying Otabek. “I’m hoping you can explain something to me.”

“I can try, but I’m supposed to be meeting a friend here soon…” Which might be why Viktor was looking for him, really. Otabek didn't know what to say to him. It would depend a lot on what Yuri and Mila had told him about what they were doing.

“I know. Not only am I producing the show Yuri’s in, Yuri is like my brother.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you were producing the show. What is it you want me to explain?”

“For weeks, Yuri has been talking about this guy JJ who’s been driving him crazy, and then suddenly he’s asking to bring you to the dress rehearsal and making you katsudon pirozhki. I hadn’t heard of you at all before this past week. Help me understand what’s happened with my brother.”

“I’ve liked Yuri for a while now, and we met at that party Saturday night. I bought him lunch on Monday so he made pirozhki for me for Tuesday.”

Viktor shook his head. “I don’t think you understand. Pirozhki are special to Yuri – katsudon pirozhki especially because his grandfather invented the recipe. That was how I knew he accepted my Yuuri, he shared some of the katsudon pirozhki his grandfather made after Yuuri had a meltdown at a competition. Yuri had quite a few creative names for me when I suggested he make some for JJ.”

“Before or after Saturday?” After, Otabek could easily imagine Yuri going ballistic. Before... that was something to think about. Mila had commented on the katsudon pirozhki too.

“Before.”

“Huh. Well, JJ was not intentionally flirting with him, things came to a head Saturday night, and I see Yuri coming and he looks pissed. I can’t tell if it’s me or you or both.”

Yuri made it quite clear with a roundhouse kick delivered to Viktor’s back. “What are you _doing_ , you geezer? I told you to stay out of this!”

“Just checking up on this guy you’re so enamored with. I’ll be in touch, Otabek. See you tomorrow night.” Viktor straightened his overcoat and walked off.

Otabek shoved his hands in the pocket of his leather jacket. “I take it I have permission to come?”

“Yeah, you and Isabella both, if she wants to come,” Yuri said. “Sorry. Viktor’s seriously embarrassing. Not quite sure what to tell him, which means I’m evasive, which means he’s prying.”

“Tell him the truth? You made a couple new friends and you’re helping them knock some sense into an idiot as a weird sort of revenge?”

“I would, but Mila explicitly told me that if I told Viktor what we were doing, she would murder me. She had a very graphic plan. Not scared of her, but not gonna take that chance.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Otabek and Isabella go to Yuri's dress rehearsal and a small wrinkle in the plan develops.

Friday afternoon, Isabella came to find Otabek. “Is there something horribly wrong with me? Did I do something terrible in a past life?”

“What’s happened now?”

Isabella groaned and flopped onto Otabek’s bed. “I asked JJ if he was going to the Bond movie tonight, and he said no, he was gonna wait and go tomorrow with Leo and Phichit and some freshman art major Phichit wants to introduce to Leo. Now Phichit’s mad at me for inflicting JJ on him. I offered to go with JJ tonight instead, but he said I should be with you since date plans worked out after all.”

Otabek stopped buttoning his shirt and facepalmed. “I told you this would happen. He feels bad about Yuri, deservedly so; he feels bad about me for absolutely no reason; he wants you to be happy. He’s stubborn and this is gonna take some time and people are going to get hurt.” He went back to the buttons, his lips twitching in amusement. “Admittedly, I didn’t think Phichit was going to be the first. Know anything about Phichit’s friend?”

“Nope. Art major, Phichit’s friend, Phichit thinks he and Leo will hit it off. That’s it.”

“Talk to Phichit, maybe you can go with them tomorrow?”

“I suggested that to JJ, but he thinks I shouldn’t see it before I go with you on Sunday. Says it wouldn’t be fair to you.”

Otabek shook his head and picked up a tie. He looked at it for a second and then held it up to Isabella. “Too much?” Isabella’s dress was nice, but it was simple and looked like the kind of thing she might wear to church. Did JJ wear a tie to church? Otabek couldn’t remember.

Thankfully, Isabella was much better at this than him. “From you, definitely. You hate wearing ties, and a dress rehearsal is not going to be that formal.”

“Good.” He put the tie back on its hanger and picked up the blue sweater he’d laid out. “Ready?”

 

Yuri met them outside the theater, his costume mostly hidden under a long beige coat. He greeted both of them with hugs. “Come on, Viktor’s in full boss mode right now so I don’t have long, but I can at least show you two to your seats. Thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for inviting us,” Isabella said. “What’s this about, anyway?”

Yuri sighed and rolled his eyes. “It’s someone’s senior project, using dance and theatre to portray the different forms of love in Greek philosophy. Kind of lame, but a role’s a role, and the dancing she has us doing is really complex. Great for application videos.”

“What’s your role?”

“I play Agape, unconditional love.” He grimaced. “The way they pitched it to me was the love of a parent for a child. I had a lot of trouble getting into the role because of that. Never knew my dad, barely knew my mom because she was so busy and kept me so busy. At least I was better than Katsudon at figuring out my role.”

“Katsudon? Huh? Like the pirozhki?” That made no sense to Otabek. He had to be missing something.

Yuri started snickering. “Yeah. Katsuki Yuuri, the guy playing Eros, is the guy who introduced Viktor and me to katsudon, and the pun just made itself when he decided that sexual love meant katsudon to him. The look on the old man’s face… priceless. Wish I’d had a camera.”

 

Otabek thoroughly enjoyed the show, although the music was a bit too heavy for his taste. It didn’t quite match the dancing, which was as complicated as Yuri had promised.

When Eros came on and started dancing, Isabella leaned over to Otabek to whisper, “If he’s thinking about food up there, I think I need to try this katsudon.”

“I’ve only had the pirozhki form, but yes, you do,” Otabek whispered back.

Yuri’s dancing, as always, captivated Otabek. The glittering white costume and his golden hair made him look like an angel on the stage, and Otabek forgot whatever the story was supposed to be, just watching Yuri and ignoring everyone else on stage. The only exception was whenever Yuri and Yuuri shared the stage – Yuuri had a way of making you look at him, the flash of red from the lining of the half-skirt on his sparkling black costume drawing your eye and Yuuri holding it with his dancing.

After the show, Viktor came out to the audience and handed them iPads with a survey loaded up. Otabek did his best to answer honestly, but he’d missed so much of the show watching two of the four leads that he wasn’t sure just how helpful his feedback was going to be.

Once they’d turned in their surveys, Isabella turned to Otabek. “Okay. I see why you like him so much. I never thought I’d meet anyone who might make me think about forgetting JJ and moving on – so naturally it’s the guy you like.”

Otabek shrugged. “Should I start keeping a tally of how many times I get to tell you I told you so? If Yuri likes you back, congratulations, be happy. Maybe I’ll start dating JJ. At least I know I won’t have to go through ten years of trying and failing to get his attention?”

 

Yuri caught up with them after changing and washing off his makeup. “So? Worth missing Bond and risking reading spoilers online?”

“Yes. You were amazing, Yuri! I’d heard you were good, but that was beyond what I’d expected.” Isabella hugged him. “You must be starving. Let’s go get dinner?”

“Sounds good. Thanks.” Yuri’s face was an adorable shade of pink. “Otabek?”

“I’ve seen you dance before, so I was a little more prepared, but I was still blown away. The power and body control some of those moves take is incredible, and you made it look easy.” The pink deepened, and Otabek had to smile. “By the way. You should call me Beka.”

“Beka?” Isabella said. “I thought you went by Beks.”

“No, JJ decided I go by Beks. JJ is stubborn. My family and my friends back home call me Beka. Seung Gil calls me Otabek still for some reason, and you and Leo follow JJ’s lead.” He reached out and touched her arm gently. “It’s okay. I don’t mind it, I just prefer Beka.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phichit asks Otabek to join the now-group-date. Fake dating is stressful and complicated; who knew?

The next morning, Otabek awakened to the sound of a ringing phone. He reached for it. “H’lo?”

“Hi, Otabek! This is Phichit.” No kidding. Otabek did not want to deal with Phichit’s infernal chipperness this early on his day to sleep in. He grunted some sort of response, and Phichit continued, “If you’re going to inflict JJ on what was supposed to be a nice quiet thing that I could get Seung Gil to call me away from if Guang Hong and Leo hit it off as well as I think they will, the least you can do is come along so Isabella will stop pestering me to let her come too.”

Otabek rubbed his face. This was not going to be awkward at all. “If I say yes, will that get you off the phone so I can go back to sleep?”

“Yep! Of course, if you don’t show up, you know I can make your life a living hell, right? Don’t forget to wake up.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever, good night.” Otabek hung up and closed his eyes, hoping sleep would come back quickly. It didn’t. Of course, it didn’t help that his phone rang not even five minutes later. He picked it up and snarled, “What, Phichit?”

“Not Phichit.”

“Shit.” Otabek sat up. “Sorry, Yuri. Phichit woke me up and I thought…”

“Whatever. JJ just invited me to join him and Phichit and a couple other people for Bond today. What do I tell him?”

“If you want to go, tell him yes. If you don’t, tell him no." Otabek had no idea why Yuri needed him to tell him that. Of course, why JJ had invited in Yuri in the first place was equally mysterious. Last he'd heard, JJ was planning to give him some space. "What did you tell him to get out and call me?”

“I told him I needed to see how Grandpa was doing before I could say yes. Grandpa’s doing well, if things keep improving he’ll be coming home tomorrow, which means I could go. Why’d he invite me?”

“You’d have to ask him. I don’t know. Phichit just manipulated me into going, so Isabella and I will be there, if that affects your decision at all.”

“Huh. Thought you and Isabella were going tomorrow by yourselves on a proper date.”

“Fake, but yeah, we were… and then Isabella found out that JJ was going with Phichit and Leo and has been trying to get them to take her too.”

Yuri groaned. “This is getting way too complicated. I don’t even know if JJ asked me as a friend or a real date or to try to get information about what’s going on with you and Isabella.”

Otabek shook his head. He really wished he knew what to tell Yuri. “I don’t know what to do either. I don’t want to hurt anyone, but if we’re going to get through to JJ, we have to sell this.”

 

When Otabek and Isabella walked up to the front of the theatre, JJ looked at them in surprise. “I thought the two of you were going tomorrow. On a date.”

“Phichit called me this morning and asked me to come with you guys instead, and Isabella agreed to the change in plans.”

“Oh.” JJ leaned against the wall. “I wish I’d known that. I wouldn’t have asked Yuri to come with us.”

“Why did you? I thought you were gonna avoid him for a while because of the signals you’d been accidentally sending.”

“Gossip says he’s moved on to you now, so I figured I’d try to make friends with him. If he moved on that quickly, it couldn’t have been that serious. Of course, you’re dating Izzy now, he’s got crappy luck, but if your first date was him getting you into his dress rehearsal I guess he doesn’t care all that much.” JJ’s forehead wrinkled as he looked around. “Where is Izzy, anyway?”

“She’s coming with Leo, guitar lessons, remember? So we agreed to meet here.”

“Right.” JJ shoved himself off the wall. “Look, I know it’s not really any of my business, but you guys are my friends. You and Izzy… why now? You’ve been friends for years. What changed?”

“Isabella gave up on… wait a minute." Otabek needed time to think to figure out what to say, but first, he wanted to know what this gossip was. "Where have you been hearing gossip that says Yuri moved on to me?”

“I heard Mila telling Sara something about it, but Mila’s not always the most discerning of people. She used to think Izzy was in love with me.” Otabek rolled his eyes, but JJ didn’t even notice. “But Sara agreed with it, and said that Yuuri’s been teasing him about it all week at dance practice, so maybe this time she’s right. Now. Izzy?”

Otabek closed his eyes, trying to figure out what to do here. He couldn’t come up with anything but telling the truth, at least part of it. “Isabella’s been trying to…”

“Beka!” Isabella took his arm. “Hi! Hi JJ. Can I borrow Beka a minute?”

“Of course. I’ll just… be over there.” JJ wandered off, taking Leo with him.

Isabella watched them go, and then hissed to Otabek, “What are you doing?”

“JJ wants to know why now. I didn’t know how to answer. What was I supposed to say, that I didn’t know why you picked now to ask me out?”

“Better than blowing this whole thing before we’ve even really gotten it started!” Isabella looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Did he sound jealous or anything?”

“No. Confused, mostly. How sure are you that this is going to work?” Otabek asked. It was starting to, kind of, maybe, but Otabek was already fed up with the lying.

“We’ll get there! Come on.” Isabella led him over to Leo and JJ, who had been joined by Yuri now. “Hi, Yuri! I didn’t know you were coming!”

“Beka didn’t tell you?” Yuri kicked Otabek’s ankle. “Moron.”

“Beka?” JJ said. “You’re using Beka?”

“It’s what he prefers,” Yuri said. “Who are we still waiting for?”

“Phichit and his friend,” Leo said. “And that’s Phichit’s car, so that should be everyone.”

Phichit walked up to the group with a tiny freshman Otabek hadn’t met. “Hey, everyone. This is Guang Hong. He’s a freshman art major and you’re going to love him. Be patient, he’s a little shy.”

Yuri scoffed. “A little? I’m surprised he hasn’t run away yet, he usually does when I’m around.”

Leo burst into laughter. “Did anyone tell anyone everyone who was coming? Hi, Guang Hong. I’m Leo. Music and choreography. I think Phichit might be trying to set us up.”

Guang Hong peeked out from where he was hiding behind Phichit, studying Leo for a moment. “Why do you think that?”

“Because this isn’t the first time he’s done it." Phichit stuck his tongue out at Leo, who ignored it to hold out a hand to Guang Hong. "Sit with me in the theatre?”

Guang Hong took it hesitantly. “Sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear this story is cursed or something. I'd meant to have this up last night, but my computers decided not to talk to each other.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JJ buys a clue! Hooray!

The movie itself was… all right. Otabek wasn’t really a Bond fan. The plots were over-the-top, implausible, and occasionally downright silly. Phichit and JJ were both super into it, and Isabella was certainly enjoying herself. Otabek tried to see how Yuri was, but with Isabella and JJ between them, he couldn’t. Leo and Guang Hong seemed to be hitting it off well, too.

After the movie, Leo and Guang Hong decided to go to dinner on their own, and Phichit got a suspiciously timed call from Seung Gil asking him for help with his dog. Otabek didn’t let the smirk show. “Looks like that scheme worked out well, at least.”

Phichit stuck his tongue out at Otabek. “You want me to set you up, too, just say the word.”

“No thanks, my love life is currently complicated enough, thanks.”

“Okay, then! See you!” Phichit headed out with a wave, leaving the four others staring awkwardly at each other.

Isabella broke the silence. “Dinner sounds good. Where do you guys want to go?”

JJ frowned. “Don’t you and Beks want to enjoy your date? Alone?”

“Don’t be silly! You’re our friend, and Yuri’s part of this, so no need to exclude him!” Isabella slipped her arm through Otabek’s. “Right, Beka?”

“We’d love to have you two join us,” Otabek said. Maybe over dinner, he could sneak a clue or two into JJ’s food.

“Yuri?” JJ said uncertainly. “You okay with crashing their date?”

Yuri glanced over at Otabek and Isabella. Otabek tried to encourage him to agree, and it seemed like Yuri got the message. “Hell yeah. Like they said. I’m part of this.”

JJ blinked. “What do you mean, you’re part of this?”

Otabek smirked. “Remember how you thought I was jerking one of them around to get with the other? I’m not. This may shock your Catholic sensibilities, but I’m with both of them.”

“And Isabella and I are with each other, too,” Yuri added. “And you are a freaking moron for not ever trying to be with her. Just so you know.” Otabek put a hand to his mouth and turned away to hide the sudden need to snicker.

“Yuri!” Isabella hissed. “What are you…”

JJ shook his head. “Okay. One more time. Beks and Izzy are dating?” Otabek confirmed it. “And Beks is dating Yuri, too.” Another confirmation. “And Izzy and Yuri are dating.”

“Sounds like you’ve got it,” Isabella said. “Any other questions about why it’s okay for you and Yuri to come with us on our date?”

“Yuri I get, but why me? I’m not… I’m not part of this at all.”

Otabek shrugged. “You’re the one who invited Yuri to hang out with you. Seems rude for us to just steal him.”

“Besides, you’re our friend,” Isabella added. “We like hanging out with you, and it’s not like we were planning on doing anything we’d want privacy for anyway!”

JJ looked around at the three of them, still very confused. “Beks, can I talk to you a minute?”

“Sure.” Otabek followed JJ off to the side. “If you’re going to lecture me about picking one of them, don’t. It would be one thing if they didn’t know about each other, but they do, so I don’t see how we’re hurting anyone.”

“Tell me the truth, Beks. Maybe it’s because we were hanging out with Phichit earlier, but this feels like some sort of… revenge scheme to get my attention by making me jealous somehow. Is it?”

_Finally_. Of course, JJ didn't have it all right, but at least he was starting to catch on a little. “Not the way you’re thinking. Are you still on about me being in love with you? I’m not. That party, it was Yuri. I had a thing for Yuri, and finding out he had a thing for you the night I was going to do something about it sucked.”

“Oh. Good to hear something’s going to work out for him, at least.” JJ glanced over at Yuri and Isabella. “Why drag Izzy into this, though? And why were you so stubborn about me being oblivious to flirting, if you haven’t been flirting with me?”

Otabek stared at JJ, hoping, just hoping, that the pieces would connect in his brain. JJ stared back uncomprehendingly. Otabek sighed. “Because you’re apparently denser than a black hole. JJ. Think very carefully about why you brought me over here and your two questions.”

JJ shook his head. Otabek was just about to give up when he saw JJ’s eyes get huge. “Izzy? She’s… but… are you serious? Izzy was interested in me and I missed it?”

“Wrong tense, but yes. Finally. I thought I was going to have to beat it into you.”

JJ's face scrunched up in confusion again. “Wrong tense?”

“Isabella’s still interested in you. This was her idea – either you’d get a clue and we could stage a breakup so you could come comfort her, or you wouldn’t and she’d move on to one or both of me and Yuri.”

“And you didn’t see the millions of ways this could go wrong? You have too much sense for me to believe you went along with this without protesting.”

Otabek bit his lip. “Oh, I did. Thing is, she knows my weaknesses. I didn’t stand a chance once she and Mila got Yuri involved.”

JJ facepalmed. “You didn’t stand a chance once Mila got involved, you mean. That explains so much. I’m guessing Mila’s the real mastermind behind this?”

“Yeah. But Yuri being involved is how they talked me into it. Even if this backfired and you ended up realizing you were into Yuri and I lost him to you instead of Isabella, at least I’d have had however long it took you to catch on.”

“So Izzy…”

“I’m attracted to her, always have been, but she’s been hung up on you as long as I’ve known her so I wasn’t ever going to try anything. If she falls for me, cool, otherwise we’ll break up when the time is right.” Otabek glanced over and huffed a soft laugh. “Which may be as soon as she realizes I told you what’s going on.”

JJ shook his head. “This is so weird. And I… had no idea about any of this.”

“Come on. Let’s go to dinner. See if you can get your head around it better.”

Otabek started toward the others, but JJ caught his jacket. “Wait. What happens now? Do I still have a chance?”

“With Isabella? Definitely. She set up a ridiculous fake dating scheme to get your attention. With Yuri?” Otabek shrugged. “Of course, I don’t even know if you’d want that. With me, maybe, depending how other things go. I don’t know what Isabella thought of Yuri before we started this, but I know that at the rehearsal last night she saw him the way I do. Something to figure out over dinner.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The air is cleared, important conversation is had, and no decisions are made.

They didn’t talk much on the way to the diner, awkward silence reigning as Otabek and Isabella walked hand in hand, with Yuri and JJ following behind them. Once they were seated, Otabek looked Isabella in the eyes. “I told him everything.”

“You what?!” Isabella shouted. She lowered her voice when she noticed the startled looks from other people at the restaurant. “Why would you tell him? What happened to the plan?”

“I told him because he asked me if this was some sort of scheme. I’ve always been a terrible liar, so I came clean.”

Isabella shook her head. “I guess I should have expected this. When you say you told him everything…”

“He didn’t exactly tell me, he made me figure it out for myself, but yes, I know what the purpose of the plan was,” JJ said. He reached for her hand. “I am so sorry, Izzy. I hate that you did this, but looking back, thinking about a lot of things over the last few years… I can see why you felt you had to.”

“Oh, thank god, finally.” Isabella squeezed JJ’s hand. “So what happens now?”

“We order, you moron,” Yuri said, pointing to the waiter who had come to greet them. Once that was taken care of, he looked at where JJ and Isabella were still holding hands. “I guess you two are gonna be together? Fake triad over?”

“Fake triad over,” Isabella said.

“’Kay.” Yuri sat back in his chair, arms folded.

“Fake triad over, but… Beks said he’s always liked you, just didn’t see the point in trying when you were so interested in me. Is that something you’d be interested in, Izzy?”

Isabella and Yuri both looked at Otabek, who shrugged. “I’m attracted, but even with this fake triad thing, I never really expected anything to come of it. If JJ’s all you want, don’t worry about me.”

“So where does that leave me, then? If both of you are getting with Isabella…” Yuri said.

“Right now no one’s getting with anyone, Yuri,” Isabella said.

Yuri rolled his eyes. “So you and JJ won’t be together when we leave? There’s any chance at all of that not happening?”

“Honestly? I don’t think any of us should leave here officially together,” Otabek said. “Now that we’ve gotten through obliviousness and fake relationships, we should probably have some real communication here. Get everything out there, take the night to sleep on it and think over what we want to do, and meet up tomorrow or Monday to figure out what we’re going to do.”

“Real communication? Like, we just say what we want?” JJ said. “Sounds like the right idea to me.”

“Great. Who’s going first?” Isabella asked.

No one volunteered right away. Finally, Otabek shook his head. “Okay, this is stupid, I’ll go first. It was my idea anyway. Yuri, whatever else happens with JJ and Isabella, I like you. You know that. I want to be with you. You’re not just going to get left out in the cold unless that’s what you choose to do.” Yuri’s scowl softened, a little, and Otabek smiled at him. “Isabella, I’m attracted to you, and I wouldn’t mind being with you, but not at the cost of messing up your chance with JJ or mine with Yuri. And JJ… I’ve never really considered it until this last week, when you got the wrong idea. It hasn’t happened, but that doesn’t mean it can’t. I like you. Could love you, if given a reason to, I think. Whatever happens with Yuri and Isabella, we’re still friends, okay?”

“Okay. Izzy, part of the reason I’ve been so dense about you is that I always thought I was projecting. Ever since we were kids, I’ve hoped that one day you’d see me as something other than your friend or your brother. I’m sorry. I should have said something years ago. Now I’m kind of glad I didn’t, though, because of Beks and Yuri.” JJ took a deep breath and turned to Yuri. “Other things that never occurred to me to question: I’m not straight. I was in love with Izzy, what did it matter what my specific sexuality was? I’ve been thinking about it all week, and it still doesn’t matter, but it includes you and Beks. I know you’re… wait. No assumptions. Assumptions bad.” Otabek smirked a little at that. “If you’re over it, over me, that’s fair. If not, and we can work things out with Izzy and Beks, I’d like to see where you and I can go. And Beks, same goes for you. I’m curious, but if we don’t think we can do a serious whatever you call this, quartet? I’m okay with that, as long as we stay friends.”

Isabella and Yuri stared at each other, and Isabella sighed. “I’ve been hung up on JJ for so long that I’m surprised I’m not just jumping on him right away, and part of that is realizing that the two of you are both awesome guys who would make awesome boyfriends. I’m not going to do anything that doesn’t include JJ, but if you’re both interested in me and we think we can make it work, I’d be interested in seeing what happens between the four of us. Fake dating the two of you…” Isabella trailed off into giggles. “It’s the fanfic cliché, sort of, isn’t it? Except that instead of realizing I never cared about the original target of this, we’re just bringing him into things.”

Yuri took a while to speak up. “This isn’t gonna whiplash on me again, is it? This time, I can start actually figuring shit out about my life? When Grandpa asks if I’m dating that nice Kazakh boy I made pirozhki for, I won’t have to say it’s complicated or lie to him?”

“This time, it’s for real,” Otabek said. “You might still have to say it’s complicated if you want to date Isabella and JJ too, but it won’t be because of some crazy scheme or a mismatch of where we stand.”

“Okay. Okay.” Yuri took a moment to compose his thoughts. “Beka, I know you said nothing decided tonight, but I can’t imagine what any thinking is going to tell me about being with you that I don’t already know. You’ve put up with so much bullshit from me, and I think I need someone with your common fucking sense in my life. Grandpa and Viktor are already convinced you’re my boyfriend, so I would love to make that come true. JJ, if it weren’t for Beka, I wouldn’t be anywhere close to over you. I want to see what happens there. Isabella… I don’t know. I’ve only ever been interested in guys, but if we’re sharing boyfriends, it wouldn’t surprise me if something happened. Sounds to me like we’ve got two obvious couples here, and we’re all open to exploring in between.”

“It does sound like that, but I still think we should sleep on it. Meet up tomorrow afternoon somewhere, and we can talk it over and decide then?” Otabek said.

“Fine. Whatever. Guess a little patience won’t kill anyone,” Yuri said.


	12. Chapter 12

Sleeping on it was easy. Otabek had no trouble falling asleep, knowing that there was a strong likelihood that he’d have a boyfriend within the day. Staying asleep wasn’t a problem either. The dreams were amazing, and he had no complaints at all about those.

It was waiting through Sunday that was killing him. They were supposed to meet up at four, and after lunch with his family, Otabek had nothing to do that kept him distracted from how much he couldn’t wait to see everyone and get the decisions made. Even his most reliable music projects weren’t working. He wasn’t too worried about Yuri changing his mind, he’d seemed more worried about being left out than not knowing what he wanted, but he wasn’t sure what to expect with JJ and Isabella. They’d seemed interested, but interested enough to go beyond the straightforward? Was Otabek, as long as Yuri was willing to share?

He gave up even pretending to wait patiently around 3:30 and headed for the lounge where they were meeting. He couldn’t help the smile when he saw that JJ was already there. “Hi. Sleep well?”

“Yeah. Then church kept me busy, and I talked to my priest at lunch. I didn’t get into the full details, but I talked to him about thinking I might be interested in men.”

“What did he say about it?” Otabek wasn't even planning on mentioning it at the mosque back home. He didn't care what they thought of his relationships. JJ, on the other hand, did. This was a potential dealbreaker.

“He said that love comes from God, and that if God was calling me down this path, there wasn’t any harm in following it. I didn’t exactly mention the possibility of there being three people, but…”

“Honestly, still cooler than I’d have expected.”

“Yeah. Same. Sure makes me feel a lot better. You and Yuri are awesome guys, but not more awesome than God. So now it’s just Izzy’s approval.”

“Just Izzy’s?”

JJ smacked Otabek’s shoulder. “Come on, dude, you know what I mean. I need Izzy’s approval to ask you or Yuri if you want to do something. I can take a no. Anyway, I came straight here after that. If I was going to be distracted and barely concentrating on my homework, I could at least do it here and not risk getting roped into something by the hockey guys.”

 

Yuri came in about ten minutes early, hands shoved into the pockets of his black leather jacket. Pissed off made sense, it wasn’t exactly an unusual mood for him, but the insecurity didn’t. “Ran into some asshole outside who says I’m too young to be in here, that freshmen aren’t allowed.”

Otabek and JJ exchanged glances. They had an asshole to find later. “You told him to fuck off, right?” JJ said.

“Yeah, but he said he was gonna report me.”

“Report you to who?” Otabek scoffed. “Freshmen pay their fees just like everyone else, you’re just as entitled to use the school facilities.”

“I dunno.” Yuri hunched in on himself. “I’m not worried about him. It was just a reminder that you three are older than me.”

Otabek held out an arm, inviting Yuri to come sit beside him. Yuri did, and Otabek put the arm around him. “Right. A sophomore’s so much older than a freshman. Two years between us, three from JJ and Isabella, who gives a fuck?”

Yuri relaxed into Otabek at that. “I know. I’m just being insecure and silly.”

“Yesterday, it sounded like you were interested in me no matter what happens with JJ and Isabella. That still true?”

“Yeah, duh, why?”

“I don’t see why we have to wait for Isabella to make that decision, then. So… boyfriends?”

The last traces of Yuri’s scowl disappeared as his face lit up in a sunny smile. It was beautiful and Otabek promised himself that he was going to work hard to get to see Yuri smile like this often. “Yeah. Boyfriends. Cool.”

 

Isabella didn’t show up until right at four. “Hey, guys. Sorry if you’ve been waiting for too long…”

“You’re fine, we said four, it’s four,” JJ said. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just nervous, that’s all. It’s a little weird to think that something I’ve been dreaming of and hoping for since I was little is coming true – but not at all the way I’d thought. Or at least, I hope not.”

“What does that mean, Izzy? Not the way you’d thought?” Otabek reached out for JJ and gave his hand a quick squeeze. Surely, Isabella wasn’t backing out of finally getting with JJ? Not after the weirdness of the past week?

Isabella sat beside JJ, leaning in against his shoulder. “I love you, and unless you’re backing out I’m your girlfriend now. That part hasn’t changed at all.” JJ’s relief was visible as he pulled Isabella in for a hug. “I just never imagined anyone else being a part of things.”

“Well, you know, we don’t have to be,” Otabek said. “If you’re not comfortable with that, if you just want JJ and you want him all to yourself…”

Isabella sat up and shook her head quickly. “No, that’s the thing. That’s not what I want. I want you to be part of my relationship, Beka. You too, Yuri. I know that probably makes me sound like a greedy slut, but…”

“Izzy.” JJ kissed her forehead. “Greedy is wanting more than what people are offering. We wouldn’t be here if wanting something between the four of us would be greedy. And slut? That’s a word for people who only care about sex. Getting into a committed quartet doesn’t make you a slut.” Isabella relaxed, leaning harder on JJ. “Is that what you want, then? All of us?”

“Yeah, it is. What about you? What do you want?”

JJ smiled at her. “Same thing. Yuri?”

“I…” Yuri took a deep breath and let it out. “JJ, I want. Isabella, I’m not sure about getting involved with a girl, but I want to try if you’re willing to let me. It might not work. I dunno.”

Isabella nodded. “Fair enough. If things don’t work, they don’t work, but I’d rather try and know than wonder what if.”

Once again, Yuri’s face lit up in that beautiful smile. “Beka? What about you?”

“I’m good with us all being together. It’s going to be complicated and we need to properly communicate with each other, but I think it’s worth going for. Let’s do this.”


	13. Chapter 13

June brought graduation for JJ and Isabella, and with it, the biggest hurdle the foursome had faced since getting together. Yuri kept scowling the entire time he braided Isabella’s hair. “You two better not just disappear, you hear me?”

Isabella giggled, earning a smack and a “Hold still, moron!” from Yuri. “Sorry, but… JJ and I aren’t going anywhere. Didn’t JJ tell you?”

“Tell me what?” Yuri demanded.

Otabek raised an eyebrow, arms folded across his chest. “Tell him what? Were you supposed to tell me too?”

Isabella looked between them, face draining of color when she realized that no, they hadn't been told. “Oh. Um. Where’s JJ?”

“He’s trying to find his tie. Leo swears he gave it back after he borrowed it to meet Guang Hong’s parents, but he can’t find what he did with it,” Otabek said. “What were you supposed to tell us?”

Isabella sighed. “JJ and I were supposed to tell you what his parents gave him for graduation. They bought him a house.”

“A house,” Otabek repeated. He and Yuri looked at each other in disbelief. “Who just buys a house for their son for a graduation present? Especially when their son doesn't know where he's going to be living a month from now?”

“Alain and Nathalie LeRoy, apparently." Isabella shrugged, earning another annoyed shout to "either quit moving or do your own hair" from Yuri. "Anyway, it’s a four bedroom house.”

“Holy shit. The fuck does he need with four bedrooms?” Yuri said.

“Well, you know. One for JJ, one for me, one for you, and one for Beka. JJ’s hoping to sign with an NHL team, so he’ll need somewhere to live in whatever city takes him on, but at least until either you’re out of college or you tell us you want out, this is going to be home. Sophomores don’t have to live in the dorms, so you can move in with us. If you want, JJ's going to be gone enough that he can just share with one of us when he is here, which gives us space for your grandfather to live with us, too.”

Yuri’s hands faltered, and he dropped the braid. “Are you serious? You guys are going to stay here for three years?”

“I’m serious. JJ will be gone a lot because of hockey, we’re hoping, and I’ll be going with him sometimes, and I’ll have trips to New York to meet with agents for my writing, but the point is, _home_ is with you guys.”

“And JJ’s parents are just… cool with this?” The scene over spring break where JJ had brought Otabek and Yuri with them to explain his love life to his parents had been… awkward, to put it nicely. JJ having a boyfriend, they didn’t have much problem with; JJ having two boyfriends and a girlfriend was hard for them to get their heads around.

Isabella shrugged. “Cool enough to buy us a house, but they made sure we all had our own rooms. So… mixed?”

JJ came in, tie in hand. “I knew Leo hadn’t given it back! He still had it!”

“Good, glad you found it, you can’t graduate without a tie.” Otabek took it from him and wrapped it around his neck to tie. “When were you planning on telling us about the house?”

“I didn’t?” Isabella shook her head, and JJ flinched. “My parents gave me the key and the title last week. I meant to tell you right away. Guess I forgot I’d only told Izzy. It was a surprise to me, I swear, I’d been planning on asking you guys if you wanted to do this after graduation, and then… boom. Mom and Dad said to tell you guys welcome to the family, by the way. They still don’t get it, but they said they don’t need to understand it to accept it.”

“That’s great!” Yuri ran across the room to kiss JJ.

“Yeah, it is. Go finish Izzy’s hair before she starts pouting, tiger.” JJ gave Yuri a little push back toward Isabella, who giggled and put on an exaggerated pout at Yuri. “In less great news, my agent’s got me scheduled for a couple meetings…”

“Okay, and that’s less great because…” Otabek prompted.

“Calgary, San Jose, and Dallas.”

“Still great.” Isabella stuck her tongue out at JJ. “So there’s a lot of travel and long-distance. We knew that was coming. Even if you got on with one of the New York teams, you’d still be doing that. We’ll be okay.”

“I know, it’s just… I don’t want to be too annoying about being the guy everyone else has to schedule around.”

Otabek threw JJ's hat at him. “Enjoy it while you can, before I’m out on tour with my band for months at a time and Yuri’s on stage in New York City and Izzy’s got book tours and getting the four of us in one place is going to require weeks of planning and hoping and all the prayer you can muster.”

“Yeah, I know. Still.” JJ grabbed his gown and pulled it on. “I do have a couple weeks where the four of us can just take a break and enjoy ourselves.”

“Good. You’ll be able to come to the wrap performance and party next Friday.” Yuri tied off Isabella’s braid. “Hair’s done, Izzy. Want to see?”

“Sure.” Isabella got up and went to the mirror to look. “Beautiful, as always, babe. Shame I have to hide it under the hat, but graduation, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. I planned around that.” Yuri grabbed Isabella’s hat and pinned it in place. “See? You can still see the braid and the curls in front.”

Isabella hugged Yuri and kissed his cheek. “You’re right, this is amazing.”

“Come on, that’s no way to thank your boyfriend.” Yuri pulled her in for a proper kiss, to cheers from Otabek and JJ. Yuri held up a middle finger at them.

“This mean you’re her date for the graduation party tonight instead of mine?” JJ teased once Yuri finally broke the kiss.

Yuri pinked up a little and looked at Otabek. “That work for you, Beka?”

“I’m good either way, if Izzy’s okay with switching.”

Isabella grinned. “I don’t care which of you I’m with. If Yuri’s okay with the fact that everyone’s gonna think he’s banging me tonight, I’m happy to switch.”

“Not like you’d be banging Beka either, if we don’t,” Yuri muttered. 

A month or so after they’d agreed to all date each other, JJ had called a meeting to talk about sex. Specifically, to talk about the fact that he wasn’t going to have any until after they’d had some sort of marriage equivalent worked out. “Not that I’m in any great hurry to figure out what to do about that, but it’s a religious thing. Having boyfriends is a compromise I’m happy to make; sex outside of a long-term commitment is not.”

Isabella had agreed to that easily. Otabek and Yuri were less sure, but when JJ explained that he wasn’t trying to make this the rule for the others, just for him, they agreed as well. Isabella had decided to join JJ in celibacy, but told Otabek and Yuri to do whatever they wanted to do.

Now, JJ cleared his throat. “Hey. Um. I know we haven’t been dating all that long, but Izzy and I have been friends for so long that it doesn’t feel weird to me to ask her to marry me. It’s not about making her more important than you two, but…”

“But she is. We know that," Otabek interrupted. "We’re all involved, but you and Izzy are a primary couple, and me and Yuri are. It works for us. If you two want to get married, I’m all for it.”

Yuri nodded. “Long as you don’t cut me out, you should do it. Make your parents happy. That, they’ll understand.”

“Glad you two are okay with it. Which I can’t marry you two too, but I can say close enough. Once Izzy and I are married, if you two are still involved with us, you’re part of that.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Isabella said.

“Forgetting, no. I just wanted to make sure Yuri and Beks were good with this before I asked you, and if I asked them in front of you then you would hear their answer and not have to consider what they thought if you said yes.” JJ hugged Isabella. “I’m not planning on asking you tonight! Tonight’s about graduation, and you have a date with Yuri, I wouldn’t want to upstage him.”

“Oh. So when are you going to ask me?”

“Tomorrow. First chance I get.”

“Okay. I’m going to say yes. Just so you know.” Isabella put on her sandals and checked herself in the mirror again. "Let's go start the life-changing events, huh?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for coming with me through this! I hope y'all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.


End file.
